Praedicator

Verba

Saturday, July 31, 2010 - St. Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. - Founder of the Jesuits

[Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24 and Matthew 14:1-12]

But mark well: if you put me to death, it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves, on this city and its citizens. For in truth it was the Lord who sent me to you, to speak all these things for you to hear. [Jeremiah]

The scene in Jeremiah shows the priests and prophets connected with the temple in Jerusalem trying to get Jeremiah put to death because he has told them they have to change or disaster will occur. Of course, the priests and prophets, who get their power and living from their work at the temple, are not happy with this kind of preaching. (Nor was Herod, later on, at the preaching of John the Baptist - see today's gospel!] So, the scene shows the unhappy priests and prophets on one side and Jeremiah on the other and the "Princes and the People" in the middle. Jeremiah's eloquence wins the day and he is rescued (for the time being) from those who want to get rid of him. Eventually, tradition tells us, he was martyred. The same thing happened to John the Baptist and to Jesus. Prophets have a risky ministry, especially prophets who say things people don't want to hear!
Discerning which prophets are "true" and which ones "false" is, of course, an important step to take. The Bible often refers to the problem! Often, it is the prophet who says, "Everything is just fine!" who turns out to be the false prophet. The ones who say, "Things are rotten," are the ones who attract a hostile response! When emotions are running high, calm discernment can take a back seat! In my own time, I have seen many very charismatic figures come and go with dire messages about the church and have seen the message go unheeded or the "prophet" silenced. In each case, I have found it helpful to look not at the prophet but at the message. Is it in continuity with the tradition and with the present situation. Are the facts straight? We don't have to look too far to find an example: the clerical sex abuse crisis.
Perhaps we should be careful both of the "Happy Days" prophets and the "Doom and Gloom" prophets, but it seems to me that if we find ourselves threatened by what a prophetic figure says, we ought to ask ourselves "Why?" before we pick up a stone! AMEN